Melrose Park Public School Newsletter

Thank you to everyone who made this year such an unforgettable one. The year started with January, along came February, we started March and it is now December.  It is amazing to think that it is now the last week of the school year.  In between times, what a very, very, very long month we had.  We could use words such as unprecedented, challenging, demanding, exhausting, difficult and these words are all true. I would rather use the words such as considerate, caring, supportive, connecting, extending, uniting, bonding, achieving, succeeding to measure the year gone by.

Thank you for playing your important role in the learning journey of your child. It is greatly appreciated.  On behalf of all the staff at Melrose Park Public School we thank you for your kind words, support and appreciation for the work we do.

We wish our parent community a wonderful festive season and a relaxing holiday enjoying your beautiful children. Remember to stay safe, well and keep washing hands!

Over the holidays I encourage all students to practice swimming 25 metres and 50 metres in preparation for the school swimming carnival. Granville Pool is booked for Thursday, 4 February 2021 for a day of competition and personal best.Please note that this event is in first full week of school.

This event is for all students in Year 3 to 6 and for students in Year 2 who are turning 8 in 2021 and are competent 50 metre swimmers. 

Permission notes will be sent home on the first day of school.

I would like to congratulate and thank our 2020 Student Leaders, Riley, Jasmine, Rabee and Ayden for their outstanding effort and commitment as they presented our special Presentation Class Assemblies last week. They were outstanding.

Our student leaders are a wonderful group of students who have worked well together, supported teachers, helped our office staff, offered ideas and opinions on school improvement and always modelled our school values to younger students. We wish Rabee, Ayden, Riley and Jasmine a wonderful high school experience and  encourage them to continue to develop their leadership skills in high school. 

Congratulations to the many students who achieved their Kookaburra badge for demonstrating the school expectations of being a respectful responsible learner over the course of the year.

Extra congratulations are  extended to those students who achieved gaining a Success Star for continuing to exhibit such wonderful behaviour effort and commitment in their learning.

Students will start again in the new year as they work towards achieving the special Kookaburra or a different colour Success Star in 2021.

Kookaburra badges are awarded to students who earn three large Kookaburra Cards. A student is awarded a Kookaburra Card after earning ten mini success cards in class.

Once a Kookaburra is awarded students work towards earning a different colour Success Star each year. 

These special badges and pins can be worn any day of the week and signifies these students as demonstrating  'flying to success'.

Congratulations to Bethanie and Milda who gained first place in the RoboCup 2020 virtual competition for their Artbots.

 The competition required them to create an artwork designed purely by robots. The girls submitted a clever idea that included a drawing robot and an erasing robot that they designed, built and programmed using Lego EV3 robots and software. Other Year 6 robotics students built and programmed dancing robots to enter the On Stage section. Congratulations to all students for a job well done!

Pam Grover     Robotics mentor

Outstanding Scientist

Each year students at our school in Years 2-6 have the opportunity to participate in ICAS Assessments.  ICAS Assessments are online assessments, designed to recognise and reward academic excellence. The assessments are based on the curricula for the relevant year, with students being asked to demonstrate a deeper, integrated and thorough level of learning.

This year Nathan Ford proved he could not be beaten by outdoing all his peers in NSW and achieving the top score in the Year 2 science competition. He was presented with his award medal at Presentation Day. We congratulate Nathan on this significant achievement and look forward to seeing what else his future holds.  

It has been an exceptional year with many challenges and successes in the library at MPPS. Students have all worked cooperatively and enjoyed the wonderful array of books available for browsing and borrowing. I commend all students for their efforts this year.

Many of our students participated in the 2020 NSW Premiers Reading Challenge. All students who completed the challenge have now received their certificates.

Special mention must go to those students who received a Gold Certificate. Each year Gold Certificates are awarded to students who have completed the PRC four times.

This year we had a significant number of students achieving this award and we congratulate them for their outstanding commitment to reading.

I wish all students a wonderful and safe holiday with many adventures in books.

Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are – Mason Cooley

Mrs Piper Teacher Librarian

The Christmas school holidays are a long break from school. It is not uncommon for teachers to notice a regression in reading skills, especially in the K - 3 years, after the long December / January break.

I hope that all families and students will take up the challenge to read for 20 minutes a day over the holiday period. Students will come home with a Reading Chart that they can place in a visible location in their house (or even take away on holidays with them). Parents are asked to sign the chart each day their child reads for at least 20 minutes.

  Certificates and prizes will be issued to all students who successfully read for 20 minutes every day in the holidays. We hope to achieve the following goals with this challenge:

• Students maintaining and improving their reading skills over the Christmas break.
• Students further developing their love of books and reading.
• Students realising the benefits of daily effort, diligence and commitment to a achieving a goal.

I thank parents in anticipation for working with the school on this: please do only sign the Reading Chart if your child is successfully engaging in the challenge.

My Summer Holiday Reading Log

2021 uniform orders can be placed online for next year and you will be emailed on how to collect those items in 2021.

The Uniform Shop will reopen on Thursday 4 February 2021.